Make sure your calendar’s free from the 30th of August to the 3rd of September, because DreamHack Masters Malmö 2017 is here.

It’s the second edition of Dreamhack Masters Malmö, and the Swedish city will see another massive influx of esports audiences… as well as contending teams and their supporters.

Dreamhack Masters Malmö has a very compact format for elimination and play, leading to five days of ultimate gaming experience.

Sixteen teams will clash with each other in the Malmö Arena, for a prize pool of a quarter of a million dollars.

In a format that has become pretty standard for Esports events worldwide, half the number of teams competing will do so by direct invite. The other eight slots will be filled by qualifying rounds. These will allow new teams a chance to battle through to a chance at the title.

It’s a good system, ensuring quality competition, but also making sure that talented new teams still have a chance to enter and win.

Once the less adept teams are taken out in the initial rounds, it’s straight over to the Elimination round. There, the best teams will face off live on stage right in front of assembled audiences of fanatical gamers and ardent admirers.

The ultimate gaming experience!

You’ve probably heard of the traditionally famous DreamHack BYOC LAN gaming events. Well, in 2016, DreamHack came up with DreamHack Masters Malmö as its Esports Arena brand. And it inaugurated its major showcasing in Malmö, Sweden.

The basic concept behind this event is to bring together fans from all across the globe. They will share the Esports experience of a lifetime and watch their favorite teams and players showcase their talents. And all this occurs on one of the biggest live stages in gaming history!

Just a year ago, DreamHack Masters Malmö became the single most viewed CS:GO event, if one does not consider the Valve Majors.

The Signature DreamHack stage on show, the intensity packed into the final three days of non-stop action… these are factors that contribute to the success of Dreamhack Masters.

And of course, fans and gamers alike from all over the world meeting at a single point to share this ultimate experience. The passion and energy this event is awash with really has to be experienced.

Image Credit: DreamHack

Which teams will be there?

There are the big ‘invited teams’, of course… SK Gaming, for one. G2 Esports from France are certainly good enough to be on the special ‘invite list’. So too are Astralis and North. Cloud9, however, will not be participating in this event.

And then there’s FaZe Clan, who have had a bad year, and have to take it out on someone. And Ninjas in Pyjamas, who have a long history with DreamHack events.

Other invitees are Natus Vincere, Virtus.pro, Fnatic, Optic Gaming, Immortals and Gambit Esports. There are also four other teams who had to qualify to be there, namely, B.O.O.T, mousesports, Team EnVyUs, and Renegades.

This may not be the biggest gaming competition around. But with players and contenders streaming in from Australia, Brazil, France, Denmark and other parts of Europe in the run-up to the event, it’s certainly one of the most exciting.

We all want to know who’s going to win.

Every fan has their favorite team, of course. Remember, among the eight specially invited Pro teams is SK Gaming. The team that has dominated the CS:GO universe in recent months, annihilating all competition.

Will they do so here?

We’ll just have to see what the future brings! It goes without saying that the betting fraternity already have large sums staked on the ultimate winner of DreamHack Masters Malmö 2017.

And we mustn’t forget the AFTER PARTY!

The venue for this after-event event is the lovely Moriska Paviljongen, transformed into a world that gamers are just going to love! It’s going to be a flamboyant bash, with bars, exotic dance floors, DJs… it’ll be one big gamer-oriented party, with fans interacting with Pros and top Teams.

It’s a five hour party. All you have to do is get there (along with all the buddies, girlfriends, old schoolmates and ex-partners you can get to tag along)! If you have a DreamHack Masters Malmö 2017 skybox pass you can get in for free… otherwise, the cost of the ticket is 150 SEK.

Image Credit: DreamHack

So why Malmö?

Malmö is a very young and vibrant city, with a dense population of around 300,000 people (the third largest Swedish city, and the sixth largest in the Nordic world). It’s a city of young people. Half of its population is below the age of 35. The city also boasts a colorful variety of 177 nationalities, speaking 150 different languages, and ranking third in the world for technological innovation. Malmö is regarded as the commercial and cultural hub of the southern part of Sweden.

There are restaurants to suit every palate, ranging from Vapiano, Jensen’s Bøfhus, McDonalds, Max Hamburgers, and The Thai Pad, to luxurious Michelin Star restaurants such as ‘Vollmers’ (with excellent ratings in the White Guide and TripAdvisor). A 15 minute train ride would get you to Vollmers (costing you around 25 SEK). Or you could get there by taxi (costing around 50 SEK in a 4-seater).

Apart from places to eat and dine at, there are some lovely beaches as well.

The simple fact is that the city of Malmö has so much to offer gaming fans while they are in Sweden for the DreamHack Masters Malmö 2017… from places to shop, to having a good meal, to spending time on the beach or taking in the diverse culture.

Getting to DreamHack Masters Malmö 2017

Here’s a quick set of directions.. and make sure you have your passport along, as otherwise you will be refused entry into Sweden.

Via Train:

If you are heading in by train, then you would probably be traveling to Hyllie from Malmö Central or heading directly to Hyllie, depending on where you are coming from (geographically).

If your transit is from Malmö Central, then you can make the best of the relatively new railway link that was created towards the end of 2010. You’ll have to spend no more than 20 minutes traveling. Trains bound for Hyllie stop at Malmö Central every 10 minutes. The journey itself takes no more than another 10 minutes or so.

For all other routes, there are three types of trains that are sure to stop at Hyllie. Depending on how you plan your journey, you may choose from the following…

Öresundstågen:

These trains stop at Malmö Central, Triangeln, and Hyllie. They connect the regions of Scania and Southern Sweden with the regions of Copenhagen and Kastrup.

Pågatågen:

They are trains that originate from Nothern Scania and have stops at every station en-route.

Long-distance trains:

Such trains stop at Hyllie even though their final destinations are Kastrup or Copenhagen.

Via City or Regional Bus:

If you catch bus numbers 5, 6 and 33, they will drop you just outside Hyllie train station. That’s on the west side of Hyllie Stationstorg.

If you catch a regional bus to get to Hyllie, then from Trelleborg it is no. 346. From Falsterbo it is no. 300, and from Lund it is no. 170. All of these will get you to the south end of Hyllie Stationsberg.

Via Car:

I wouldn’t suggest traveling by car because of the congestion inevitable at the event.

But if you have no other option, then all you have to do is head for the last exit in Sweden (also called ‘Malmö V’). You do that while traveling towards Copenhagen along the Outer Ring Road (Yttrering). Then pay attention to the signs leading to Malmö Arena. This is, of course, if you are traveling from Sweden.

If you are traveling by car from Denmark, then you would need to cross the Öresund Bridge Link. Carry on for around 5 km along the main E65 Motorway, finally taking the exit that reads ‘Malmö Väst’. Then, once again, just pay attention to the signs that lead to Malmö Arena.

If you are traveling by car, then you will also need to consider car parking, especially on a busy day like this promises to be.

As such, there are three fully-automated pre-pay car parks. They accept both coins (Swedish currency) and credit cards such as the more mainstream ones, viz. MasterCard, American Express, Visa, and Eurocard. Other cards accepted in the area are Hydro, Shell, OKQ8, VolvoCard, Preem, and Statoil. SMS Parking and Easy Parking are also available.

Depending on which route you take, you can either choose the P-väster car park, in Lorensborgsgatan, the P-norr car park, in Annetorpsvägen, or the P-öster car park, in Pildammsvägen (which is the largest of the three).

Via Bicycle:

While following bicycle lanes, you can easily get to Malmö Arena from Kroksbäck or Kroksbäck Park by simply following the signs to Hyllie, and then quite easily get to Malmö Arena from there.

Entrances to the Arena…

There are four entrances to the event. Which entrance you chose will depend on what ticket you buy.

If you have everything (in terms of formalities, tickets, etc.) squared away and are looking to simply walk-in, then you might want to try the MAIN entrance, situated at Hyllie Stationtorg, number 4, 215 32.

If you are looking to buy a ticket at the venue, then you are best headed directly for the TICKET OFFICE entrance, situated at Arenagatan, number 17, 215 32.

Different entrances are situated along Arenagatan, including the SKYBOX Entrance, at number 11, 215 32, or the PREMIUM & VIP entrance, at 15, 215 32.

Stay tuned, because we’ll be covering DreamHack Masters Malmö 2017 in detail over the coming days. That includes match predictions for individual matches, all through those five intense, exciting days.

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